Tag: Fantasy

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First Impressions Reviews

Autumn 2018 First Impressions – Ulysses: Jeanne d’Arc and the Alchemist Knight

During France’s Hundred Years’ War with England, Montmorency, the son of a noble, immerses himself in the study of magic and alchemy at a school for knights. However, after France’s defeat at Agincourt, the school is disbanded and Montmorency is forced to flee. While on the run he meets a miraculous village girl named Jeanne. – ANN

Streaming: Crunchyroll and Funimation

Episodes: 12

Source: Novels

Episode Summary: Montmorency, along with his friends Richemont, Charlotte, and Philip, attend a school for the children of nobles. The backdrop of their carefree school days is the Hundred Year War between France and England. Though they all realize that their friendship will likely come to an end as their families take their places within each faction of the conflict, right now they choose to cling to them as a last bastion of innocent joy. Montmorency has taken it upon himself to try to learn alchemy in order to protect the lives of his friends, but his “master,” a mysterious old alchemist named Nicholas Flamel, is unwilling to train him in this dark art.

Eventually Richemont is called away to join her family in fighting the English, while Philip returns to her father, who has allied with England. Montmorency, realizing that he cannot change things through his own physical power, chooses to enter into a pact with the devil. He summons a fairy named Astaroth, who instructs him in concocting the “Elixir.” Imbibing the elixir will allow him to join with the Philosopher’s Stone (a relic from his family) and gain immense power. He realizes, after what he believes is an unsuccessful attempt at distilling this concoction, that 7 years have now passed.

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First Impressions Reviews

Autumn 2018 First Impressions: Radiant

Seth is a boy who seeks to become a great magician, and a group of witches who seek to travel to the Radiant. Radiant is a mythical land that spawns monsters called “Néméses” which fall to the world from the sky. While traveling, they are also hunted by The Inquisition – ANN

Streaming: Crunchyroll and Funimation

Episodes: 21

Source: French Comic

Episode Summary: The demonic “Nemesis” have mysterious origins; they might be Heaven’s punishment or they could be monsters ejected from Hell. Those who encounter these beasts, should they survive, are forever changed by the experience. Most become “cursed” by magical power, which they in turn use to defend the rest of Humanity against the Nemesis. Seth is one of these cursed sorcerers, or at least he aims to be one; currently he’s just an apprentice to Alma, an experienced magician and Nemesis-hunter. His enthusiasm for magic is not matched by his actual skill, and this tends to cause friction between Seth and the rest of the local town.

One day, Seth and his friend Tommy witness something horrific streaking across the sky – Seth recognizes it as a Nemesis egg and he sends Tommy to evacuate the townspeople. Seth decides to take on the challenge of defeating the Nemesis on his own since Alma is off fighting elsewhere. The task soon proves overwhelming as the monster rebukes every one of Seth’s tricks and weapons. Just as he’s about to be crushed, the monster is blasted away by a group of 4 wandering sorcerers who’ve arrived just in the nick of time.

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First Impressions Reviews

Autumn 2018 First Impressions – Ms. Vampire Who Lives in my Neighborhood

Due to a strange incident, Akari Amano is rescued by a vampire girl named Sophie Twilight, and Akari becomes interested in her. – ANN

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 12

Source: Manga

Episode Summary: Akari Amano is really into dolls, so when she catches wind of a mysterious girl who, according to legend, lives in the forest and never ages, she assumes this person must be some sort of living doll. The truth is even more amazing – the girl’s name is Sophie Twilight, and she’s actually a vampire. Sophie lives alone in her large house, and Akari takes it upon herself to keep Sophie from feeling lonely. The thing is, Sophie enjoys her loner night-owl existence, and Akari’s budding obsession is starting to get in the way.

When Akari leaves for a time, however, the difference is noticeable to Sophie. Though she appreciates the quiet, she realizes that Akari’s presence brought a fun atmosphere to her home. Without the constant chatter and questioning of her vampire lifestyle, Sophie feels as though something is missing. Akari is way ahead of the game, having decided to pack up her things (including several of her dolls) and move into Sophie’s home. Though the logistics might need some hammering-out, this could turn out to be a fun adventure for both girls.

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Anime Reviews Reviews

Anime Review – Revue Starlight

“Starlight” is the song and dance revue troupe loved throughout the world. Karen and Hikari make a promise with each other when they’re young that one day they’ll stand on that stage together. Time passes, and now the girls are 16 years old. Karen is very enthusiastic about the lessons she takes every day, holding her promise close to her heart. Hikari has transferred schools and is now away from Karen. But the cogs of fate turn, and the two are destined to meet again. The girls and other “Stage Girls” will compete in a mysterious audition process to gain acceptance into the revue. – ANN

Streaming: HIDIVE

Episodes: 12

Source: Original

Review: This review contains plot and thematic spoilers for the anime. Heavy spoilers are indicated; the section in question can be skipped.

Do you believe in fate? That once our life is set in motion, its pre-determined pathway is truly an immovable arc of destiny? Anime is filled with stories of prophesies fulfilled and traditions unbroken; it’s a theme whose expression allows us to believe in the possibility and comfort of things greater than ourselves. There are also plenty of anime, however, that dare to suggest that we, as human beings, are more responsible for our lives than some of us may be comfortable fully accepting. I tend to like these stories better, because rather than simply implying that our poor state of being is solely the result of our own mistakes, it suggests that we might also have some power to alter the flow of the river and set ourselves on a better course, given the opportunity and support of course.

Revue Starlight is, in its simplest form, a story about a group of girls choosing not to accept an exclusionary story – a fate which does not encompass the happiness of them all. Instead, they attempt to re-write the stage-play of their existence and to reinterpret their story as one which allows room for successful fulfillment of their desires.

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First Impressions Reviews

Autumn 2018 First Impressions – Goblin Slayer

“I’m not saving the world. I just kill goblins.” Rumor has it that, in a certain guild in the middle of nowhere, there is an extraordinary man who has climbed all the way to the Silver rank just by killing goblins. At the same guild, a priestess who’s just become a new adventurer has formed her first party… and the man who ends up rescuing that party when they get into trouble is none other than the Goblin Slayer. – Crunchyroll

Streaming: Crunchyroll and Funimation

Episodes: 12

Source: Light Novel

Episode Summary: A Priestess, having just become an adult at 15, elects to become an adventurer and to serve as a healer for adventuring parties. No sooner does she join a local guild than she’s hired by a group of greenhorn adventurers on a quest to exterminate a nest of goblins. Though the popular opinion is that such a quest is too much for beginners, the enthusiastic bunch isn’t deterred. The Priestess joins them.

As they enter the goblins’ cave, it becomes apparent just how woefully under-prepared they are. The swordsman’s sword is too long for such an enclosed space, and no one has brought any healing items with them. When the Priestess and mage fall behind they’re soon surrounding by a swarm of goblins who, despite their small size, are vicious and cruel. Things quickly take a downturn and the Priestess soon finds herself alone and in a very vulnerable position. It is likely only due to insanely good luck that she is saved by the Goblin Slayer, a high-ranking member of the guild who makes quick work of the goblin horde. She then elects to join the Goblin Slayer on his quest to kill goblins.

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First Impressions Reviews

Autumn 2018 First Impressions – IRODUKU: The World in Colors

Set in the city of Nagasaki, the story takes place in a world where a miniscule amount of magic remains in everyday life. Hitomi Tsukishiro is a 17-year-old descendant of a witch family who grew up with stale emotions, as she lost her sense of color at a very young age. Feeling sorry for her granddaughter’s future, Kohaku, a great witch, sends Hitomi to past, the year 2018. Through exchanges with her 17-year-old grandmother and her club members, the story follows Hitomi’s growth as a person. – MAL

Streaming: Amazon Prime

Episodes: TBA

Source: Original

Episode Summary: At some point in her life, Hitomi lost her ability to see color. As a member of a family of mages, this seems to have dulled her magical abilities and has left her feeling depressed and disconnected from the world. Even the festival fireworks, something she loved to watch as a child, don’t reveal their true beauty when Hitomi is watching them. Hitomi’s grandmother, a powerful mage, surprises her the evening of the fireworks with a time-turning device that she’s been bathing in the light of the moon for 60 years. She’s decided to send Hitomi 60 years in the past to 2018, and Hitomi has no time to resist before her grandmother wishes her goodbye and completes the spell.

Hitomi arrives in an unfamiliar room that clearly belongs to a young man – he arrives to change his clothes as she hides underneath the bed. As she crawls out the window, several students her age bear witness to the escape and start the rumor mill running – who’s the mysterious (and beautiful) girl that Aoi was keeping in his bedroom? When the members of the photography club discover that Hitomi is well and truly lost, they take her under their wing and bring her to her family’s magic shop, atop the hill as it always has been. Though her grandmother (her age in this time period) is off studying magic in England, once the rest of the proprietors realize that Hitomi is family, they invite her to stay in their spare room. The next day, as Hitomi searches for a lost item, she encounters Aoi who’s spending his free time drawing. Amazingly enough, the drawing appears to Hitomi in vivid color. Could there be some way to restore color to her world, and bring her magic back?

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First Impressions Reviews

Autumn 2018 First Impressions – Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai

There’s a rumor about a mysterious phenomenon call “puberty syndrome.” For example, Sakuta Azusagawa is a high school student who suddenly sees a bunny girl appear in front of him. The girl is Mai Sakurajima, Sakuta’s upperclassman and also a famous actress who has gone on hiatus from the entertainment industry. For some reason, the people around Mai cannot see her bunny-girl figure. Sakuta sets out to solve this mystery, and as he spends time with Mai, he learns her secret feelings. Other heroines who have “puberty syndrome” start to appear in front of Sakuta. – ANN

Streaming: Crunchyroll and Funimation

Episodes: TBA

Source: Light Novel

Episode Summary: Sakuta Azusagawa is a bit of a loner. A misunderstanding that morphed into a rumor turned him into something of a pariah among his classmates, so he has very few friends and spends most of his days on his own. One day when he’s in the library, he sees something entirely out of the ordinary – former child star Mai Sakurajima, now one of Sakuta’s upperclassmen, dressed in a bunny suit. None of the other patrons seem to see what he’s seeing. Once Mai realizes that Sakuta is aware of her presence, she orders him to forget everything and leave her alone.

Life doesn’t work out that way, however; the two keep encountering one-another around town. Mai eventually reveals that, since going on hiatus from her acting work, she’s noticed that more and more people are unable to see her. Sakuta even witnesses firsthand when a bakery employee acts as though Mai isn’t there at all. He believes that this might be a case of an urban legend called “Adolescence Syndrome,” if only because he and his sister are also victims – she was bullied and the painful words hurled at her manifested as physical wounds, and Sakuta woke up one day with huge gashes on his chest. Whatever the cause, Sakuta and Mai start to recognize one-another as kindred spirits.

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First Impressions Reviews

Autumn 2018 First Impressions – Xuan Yuan Sword Luminaries

Ken En Ken: Aoki Kagayaki is based on the 2004 Taiwanese role-playing game Xuan Yuan Jian Waizhuan: Cang zhi Tao, whose story is set in the Spring and Autumn period of Chinese history (approximately 770–476 BC). – MAL

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 13

Source: Taiwanese RPG

Episode Summary: Yin, Ning, and Zhao are three friends who are inseparable until the Taibai Empire’s army arrives and tears their lives apart. Zhao is enslaved by the empire and he believes Yin and Ning were killed as their village burned to the ground. The Empire’s mechanical constructs are now built partly on Zhao’s back. As a quick learner and an insatiable tinkerer, he uses the Empire’s discarded parts to create his own mechanical toys in secret.

Yin and Ning actually survived their village’s destruction. Though Ning lost her arms, she and Yin make a hardscrabble living putting on acrobatic shows as they travel from village to village. One evening as Yin searches for some water, she hears a strange ringing noise from an abandoned house. Inside she’s confronted by a horrifying snake demon and falls through the rotten wood floor to a hidden room. She obtains a mysterious scroll which grants her the companionship of a summoned familiar in the form of a girl named Yun. Yun has considerable power; she’s able to destroy the snake spirit easily. After doing so she disappears. Later, when the village is attacked by Taibai constructs, Yin is able to summon forth Yun and also produce a deadly sword using the scroll’s power; together, they defend the village and destroy the constructs.

In the meantime, Zhao’s illicit tinkering is discovered by the authorities and he and a young girl he’s befriended are taken into custody. Because Zhao was favored by the chief engineer who has since defected to the rebellion, Zhao has now become a suspect. As he faces the empress to receive his punishment, he realizes that she is in fact the girl who became his friend. She grants him a noble title and the all-important task of studying to become the new chief engineer, putting his considerable talents to use for the Taibai Empire.

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Autumn 2018 First Impressions – That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime

Living alone and never having had a girlfriend, 37-year-old Satoru Mikami is dissatisfied with how his life has turned out. But after dying at the hands of a robber, he awakens to a fresh start in a new world…as a slime monster. – ANN

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 24

Source: Light Novel

Episode Summary: Satoru Mikami has had a pretty decent life so far – he’s got a good job at a good company and generally enjoys how things have unfolded. He is disappointed in his lack of a love-life, however; as a 37-year-old man who’s never had a significant other, he feels as though he’s missed out on one of life’s very important pleasures. He doesn’t have much time to lament this however, since a runaway man with a knife stabs and kills him in the street (and on the way to his favorite meal, too). With his last breath he implores his subordinate to remember him fondly (and to trash his hard drive). As the world fades into nothingness, Satoru feels his body dissolve away.

Unexpectedly, he wakes up in a strange place inside of a very strange body. He realizes after some experimentation that he’s now a slime a-la Dragon Quest, with some fairly cool skills – he can absorb magical materials and store them in his body, he doesn’t feel pain, heat, or cold, and he can regenerate after suffering damage. He realizes, though, that he’s not alone. A stentorian voice beckons to him, and after some back-and-forth Satoru realizes that he’s sharing his space with a particularly powerful and threatening dragon. They make a mutually-beneficial deal: Satoru will be friends with Verudora the Dragon, and Verudora will grant Satoru the power of magical sight. Satoru is a little embarrassed to realize that, even at age 37, he’s still worked up over making a new friend.

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First Impressions Reviews

Summer 2018 First Impressions – The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar

Yuuto Suoh gets more than he bargained for when he joins his childhood friend Mitsuki Shimoya in testing out an urban legend. When he uses his phone to take a picture of himself with the local shrine’s divine mirror, he is whisked off into another world – one heavily steeped in the lore of the old Norse myths. Using his knowledge gained from school and from his solar-powered smartphone, he has the chance to bring the Wolf Clan, the same people who cared for him, to prominence, all while earning the adoration of a group of magic-wielding warrior maidens known as the Einherjar. – ANN

Streaming: Crunchyroll

Episodes: 12

Source: Light Novel

Episode 1 Summary: It’s been two years since Yuuto was accidentally whisked away to an unknown bronze age society, but in that time he’s managed to become the leader and patriarch of a powerful clan. His goal isn’t exactly to gain control of the entire land, though that might be the unintended consequence; he wants to bring about peace to its various warring groups so that he can then concentrate on finding a way back to his native time and place. Luckily Yuuto still has the use of his smartphone, as it gives him access to military tactics and other knowledge he’s able to utilize to gain an advantage over almost any adversary. His most recent victory is over the Horn Clan, and the leader chooses to become his “sister,” a term for a subservient position beneath the patriarch. Soon after their alliance is solidified, another group makes moves to attack the Horn Clan’s homeland. Though the ink is barely dry on their alliance, Yuuto chooses to honor it by sending his armies to aid his new subjects.

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